Click here to go to the next issue.

from The Ashtavakra Gita (via Xan)


STILLNESS


All things arise,
Suffer change,
And pass away.

This is their nature.

When you know this,
Nothing perturbs you,
Nothing hurts you.

You become still.

It is easy.

God made all things.
There is only God.

When you know this,
Desire melts away.

Clinging to nothing,
You become still.

Sooner or later,
Fortune or misfortune
May befall you.

When you know this,
You desire nothing,
You grieve for nothing.

Subduing the senses,
You are happy.

Whatever you do
Brings joy or sorrow,
Life or death.

When you know this,
You may act freely,
Without attachment.

For what is there to accomplish?

All sorrow comes from fear.
From nothing else.

When you know this,
You become free of it,
And desire melts away.

You become happy
And still.

'I am not the body,
Nor is the body mine.
I am awareness itself.'

When you know this,
You have no thought
For what you have done
Or left undone.

You become one,
Perfect and indivisible.

'I am in all things,
From Brahma to a blade of grass.'

When you know this,
You have no thought
For success or failure
Or the mind’s inconstancy.

You are pure.
You are still.

The world with all its wonders
Is nothing.

When you know this,
Desire melts away.

For you are awareness itself.

When you know in your heart
That there is nothing,
You are still.
_____________________________________________________________________

When faced with impending death, the perspective becomes
very different indeed. Very few realize death is certain
but not the "when". What is your biggest fear is also the
biggest helper, when it is possible to give up the idea of
"waking up further" completely. Giving up this is the
greatest renunciation possible and many "before" you were
forced to it while the body was dying, despite a healthy
body, as will many "after" you.
--Jan Barendrecht

Of all that I have read and experienced, it seems silent
meditation is the key to awakening. Even Buddha spent his
last few days before awakening in meditation. It is said
that he remarked he would not move until he awoke. Most
people take that to mean his body would not move.
I believe he meant that his mind would not move. Thought is
the barrier to awakening. A silent mind is no mind and is
awake.
--Neo

Wherever there is ruin, there is hope for treasure - Why do
you not seek the treasure of God in the wasted heart?
--Rumi

Wherever there is hope, there is clinging.
Where clinging is, 100% surrender is not.
When 100% surrendered, Silence is and no fear can touch you.
--Jan

Fear may not be a readily accepted companion, but it may
turn into your greatest ally. In the willingness to be
"someone who will never awaken any further" and "lose
awareness altogether", this fear turns out to have no power
or ground in reality at all. I am not saying this just to
give you some bandage, but there is a sweet secret of the
deep bliss of our own heart when we allow ourself the
willingness to be exactly where and how life wants it to be,
and no other way. So no more wishes for further awakening,
nor fears of losing awareness. This bliss is beyond further
awakenings and levels of awareness. It is your own heart of
the matter. The one that you are, that you know, that
experiences all wishes and fears. You already know this...,
I am not saying this to make a point. I am saying this to
tell you that I share this heart, that I am not separate
from yours, and that your message brings me the experience
of shivers and emotions; but I also rejoice and recognize
that we can never be separated in that heart, and that no
experience, however frightening, can touch that.
--Mira

I was born with you and will burn up with you in the
timeless and spaceless Joy that is our sum and substance and
more.
--Greg Goode
___________________________________________________________________

If you go to http://www.alexgrey.com and enter the Shop the
picture I have in my study is Holy Fire 1. I also have
Theologue in my living room.

I would say the effect on meditation is small unless you
consider your life a meditation. I surround myself with
spiritual art. Besides the two I have already mentioned, in
my study/computer room I have a large stone bust of the
Buddha, a sitting Buddha meditating, a large beautifully
framed print of Christ, The Marharisi (TM) and his teacher.
They are all visible to me now. There are others throughout
my home of solitude. They are constant reminders to stay on
the path.
A glance at one can be a guide. There is nothing more
important than the path, except it's end.
--Neo

...looking at Grey's paintings is seriously like a flashback
to the mid-90s, when (by the Grace of God) I enjoyed
frequent participation in chemical satsang. In Grey's
"Gallery" section, under Sacred Mirrors, I find his
depictions of visionary anatomy to be startlingly
realistic. His "Psychic Energy System" is very much like
what it "feels" like or "looks" like on the inside when
tripping. The next level up, "Spiritual Energy System,"
represents some *really* potent peaks, where one's
boundaries start to dissolve. By the time one gets to
"Universal Mind Lattice," there's not much left of one. I
guess this would be called Nirvakalpa Samadhi.

The "Clear Light of the Void," the highest level, I don't
quite resonate with. Maybe I'm missing something or his
depiction is just very personal for himself. Maybe it's
like the period after the peaking when the "trip" suddenly
seems to come to a complete end from one moment to the next,
and one is just sitting there is one's room. One gets
disappointed by this and starts to get up and go about one's
business, then one realizes it ain't really "over."
Everything is the same, but different.
Perhaps it is hard to make oneself clear in words.
--Petros

Thank you for sharing this site, neo, and also your thoughts
about spiritual art. I enjoyed looking through Alex Grey's
paintings.
The painting called "Oversoul" seemed to suggest awareness
seeing itself as seeing only and always itself. His art
attempts to express the inexpressible. I, as you, have
found inspiration in Buddhist works of art.
Statues of the Buddha seen in various museums often convey
to me an evenness of unattached awareness, all-pervading,
"solid" yet insubstantial.

I appreciate your suggestion that life is meditation. You
speak of nothing being more important than the path, except
for its end. How do you see this end? I view the end of
the path as this present moment. The "end" is then to see
the end in the beginning. Here and now is the beginning and
end, hence endless "nowness" or "openness". Endless
openness, yet unchanging evenness. This is the "razor's
edge" where words become insignificant, awareness is all.
Whatever seems to appear as "nowness" passes - the "nowness"
never comes or goes. The silent stone statue of the Buddha
speaks. Peace and blessings to you, and thanks for what you
share here.
-- Love --
--Dan

___________________________________________________________________

Tony: Apart from supplying purpose and meaning to life he
also provides rituals and activities. One can help the poor
and at the same time serve him. There is even a heirarchy
to rise up the ranks in. The whole world is with the
Avatar. The price is your soul, you lose your Moksha and
become a 'captive spirit'.

Jodyr: We cannot possibly "lose" our souls. We *are* our
souls, and our souls are ever free.

If one submits to a guru, one is doing so from the level of
ego. We might seek the favor of the guru as a way to feel
good about ourselves, thereby acquiring the trait of being
in the guru's good favor. However, doing so does not
prevent Moksha. Moksha is prevented by having expectations
about what Moksha is like.

For instance, it is common for people to hold their gurus as
an example of what a realized person will be like.
Therefore, their expectation that they will be like their
guru prevents their realization from occurring, as one's
realization will be unique to them. That is, they won't
notice their realization as they are expecting it to be
different from what it is. This isn't the guru's fault
directly, but the good gurus will recognize this dynamic and
assist their devotees in shedding these kinds of
expectations.

Tony: However if the Guru is genuine then the situation may
be different. For if the Guru is is a 'realised soul', then
he/she can lead one to liberation not captivity. For God is
the Guru and the Guru is God.
It is possible to 'merge', with him Saguna
Brahman/Mahasakti.

Jodyr: Even a false guru can be true for the sincere
devotee.
It's really not as much about the guru as it is about the
devotee's sincerity.

Tony: The Grace of the Saguna or the Devi is necessary to
move to the stage of nirvikalpa or nirguna. That is
presuming in the case of a Guru that he is in a state of
Nirvikalpa Samadhi permanently and is Truth.

Jody: One cannot exist in Nirvakalpa Samadhi permanently.
See Harsha's posts on the matter for more info.

Tony: Other Gurus are not Gurudevas but teachers, it is the
Satguru that leads one to Moksha.

Jodyr: It is the grace of the Saguna or Devi that allows for
Moksha to occur. A Sat Guru is not necessary in each and
every case, and there are members of this list that are
examples of this.
____________________________________________________________________

The state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi that Sri Ramakrishna refers
to and Kevala Nirvikalpa that Ramana Maharshi refers to are
two different things. This is known by the adepts and
advanced students who have engaged in long term practice of
meditation and actually have experienced these states. This
cannot be grasped through intellectual discussion as it is a
matter of practical experiences. This is why words and
explanations can only help a little but also succeed in
generating controversy.

The Nirvikalpa Samadhi referred to by Sri Ramakrishna
involves the Kundalini Shakti moving up to the Sahasarara in
a special way. The Samadhi that ensues involves the whole
energy of the mind/body system and body consciousness is
totally obliterated.
As the union of Shakti and Shiva in Sahasarara leads to such
ecstasy, the desire to come out of such a state can quickly
disappears. It is helpful to have other people around at
such times.

Kevala Nirvikalpa results when the Shakti (after reaching
the Sahasarara) comes down from Sahasarara in the frontal
Nadi known as Amrita Nadi or Para Nadi. This Nadi connects
the Sahasarara and the Spiritual Heart referred to in the
Upanishads. As Ramana Maharshi has pointed out, the
Spiritual Heart is not the physical heart and nor is it the
Heart Center of Kundalini Yoga. This Heart is experienced
slightly to the right of center and the Sage of Arunachala
has spoken extensively about it. The Spiritual Heart sucks
in the Kundalini Shakti along with the mind (the mind being
a manifestation of Shakti). Here everything disappears
totally. No Energy, No Ecstasy, No Anything. Only the Pure
Self. Self That Is It Self Sat-Chit-Ananda. That You Are!

Sri Ramana took great care to distinguish between Kevala
Nirvikalpa and Sahaj Samadhi as indicated in his
conversations. Sahaj Samadhi refers to the permanent
continuous and the ever awake stage and there can be no
rebirth after that.

--Harsha
____________________________________________________________________
From the words of gangaji; who is helping me out of my
ignorance, as you all are.

"The great gift that Ramana offers you as his own Self is to
be still. To not look to the mind as the reference point of
who you are, mind being "thought" mental thought, physical
thought, emotional thought, circumstantial thought. To be
still. What can be said about what is revealed in
stillness?
Nothing has been said that can touch it. Much has been said
that points to it. Words such as enlightenment,
realization, Self, Truth, God, Grace, all of these words
point to that.
The moment they are conceived as some 'thing' they point
away from that. And then you begin this ridiculous practice
of comparing yourself with someone else. All in the hopes
of reaching something, or leaving some-thing. And these all
based on the idea that you are some 'thing'.

"Who you are has no need of, no desire for, no fear of
either ignorance or enlightenment. You are free of these
concepts. Ignorance points to not realizing that. And
enlightenment points to realizing that. But the moment you
cling to any concept of ignorance or any concept of
enlightenment as reality, you are already in the experience
of ignorance again. You see how subtle the workings of the
mind are? How subtle?

YOU ARE NO 'THING' AT ALL! Everything that appears, appears
in you, because of the vastness of the mystery of you. When
you identify yourself as some “thing” something mental,
something physical, something emotional, something
circumstantial and you believe this identification to be
real, you overlook the reality of the vastness of being who
you are. It is so utterly simple. This is what has held it
as the deepest secret.

So all of your strivings, all of your practicings, all of
your comparing, all of your taking notes on, is realized to
be worthless. In this moment of realization of the
worthlessness of that, there is ultimate freedom. If there
is the slightest clinging to that as worthwhile, as worth
something, there is once again being caught in
identification.
The opportunity for the mindstream that you have identified
as yourself, the opportunity is, in the midst of that, to
real-ize you are that animating force that gives the
mindstream its apparent power. This can be realized
immediately -- in simply being still. You will never
realize it by searching for it in thought. You may have
intellectual understanding, and I would say you all have
this intellectual understanding, but you aren’t satisfied
with that, because you will never be satisfied until you
embrace yourself, the truth of who you are. Luckily you will
never be satisfied. You will not settle for second best.
Luckily.
This is the greatest gift -- this gift from Ramana, through
Papaji. This opportunity to stop, midstream, to stop, and
recognize who you are. All discussion before that and after
that is worthless, is some mind game. Maybe beautiful,
maybe horrible, but worthless.

love skye
___________________________________________________________________

A search engine has been installed on the NDS website home
page. It appears to work very well.

http://www.nonduality.com
____________________________________________________________________

Taking nondualism too far?

Young man Not-Two applied for an engineering position at an
Nondualist firm based in Sedona. A dualist applied for the
same job, and both applicants having the same
qualifications, the department manager asked them to take a
test to determine who would get the job.

Upon completion of the test, both men only missed one of the
questions.
The manager went to Not-Two and said, "Thank you for your
interest, but we've decided to give the job to the dualist."

The Nondualist replied, "And why would you do that? We both
got 9 questions correct. This being Nondualism country and
I being a nondualist I think I should get the job!"

The manager replied, "We have made our decision based not on
the number of correct answers, but on the question you
missed."

"And just how would one incorrect answer be better than the
other?"
"Simple. The dualist put down on question #5, 'I don't
know.' You put down, 'Neither do I.'"

--adapted from the Aham list

top of page